Say Neigh to Zombies
by Karl Kadaver
Summary: Oh no!  The zombie apocalypse has begun in Ponyville!  Will the Mane Six make it out alive or will they succumb to My Little Zeddie horde?
1. Prologue: The Great Muffin Disaster

AN: I do not own "My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic" or any of the characters mentioned in this fiction. I also do not own zombies. But I do own guns. Just in case…

2nd AN: This fiction is a collaboration between myself and a young gentleman I met on TV Tropes who goes by the handle "marston." The idea was his, the writing is mine.

Say Neigh to Zombies

Day 0 – The Great Muffin Disaster

It was an average day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the smell of fresh-baked pastries was gently wafting from Sugarcube Corner.

"This batch is gonna be great! I can tell! My Pinkie Sense's all a'twitchin'!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, as she threw open the oven door. In her excitement, she quickly clamped down on the hot muffin tin with her mouth and brought it onto a nearby table. After a moment, the pain of having a 300 degree piece of metal in her mouth finally registered and she violently shook her head and stuck her tongue out, "HOT HOT HOT!"

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash glanced at each other as they stood in front of the steaming tin, waiting patiently until Pinkie finished.

"OOell? Awnd oo goinb to hab one?" Pinky Pie asked, her tongue sticking out, as she moved uncomfortably close to Rainbow Dash. Dash in turn edged closer to Twilight, who herself took a step back.

Twilight chuckled nervously. "Shouldn't we wait for them to cool first?" She glanced at Pinkie's tongue, which appeared to be throbbing. "And, uh, shouldn't you get some First Aid?"

"'Nuh ooay, po-nay!" Pinkie replied exuberantly. Then she shook her head, returning her voice to normal. "Everypony knows that the best muffins are fresh muffins! C'mon! They'll be great!" She put her nose almost up against Twilight's and raised her eyebrows up and down. "Piiinkiiieee Seeennsse…"

Rainbow Dash snorted. "That's what you said about yesterday's batch." She edged closer to the muffins and sniffed at them. "Didn't a bunch of ponies get sick from them?" She sniffed at them again. "Also, didn't even Spike get sick?" She cautiously sniffed them a third time then stuck out her tongue disgustedly. "Besides, they stink!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight chided as she smelled the muffins herself. "At least give them a chance bef- Wow." She crinkled her nose and drew herself back. "They do stink…"

"What?" Pinkie Pie replied, flabbergasted. She also smelled the muffins and her face immediately turned green and she jerked her head backward. "PEE-YOO!" She turned her head and gagged for what seemed like an unnecessary amount of time, then immediately clamped down on the tin with her mouth and threw the muffins away. She frowned at her friends, with tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't get it… I followed the recipe exactly as Zecora said…" She went over to the counter which was still covered in mixing bowls, eggs and flour. She swiped everything to the side with one hoof and began searching for something.

"Wait. Pinkie…" Rainbow Dash deadpanned. "You mean 'She's An Evil Enchatress, She Does Evil Dances,' Zecora?"

Pinkie Pie turned around with a piece of paper stuck in her mouth. "Mmf. Mm hmm hm…" She stood on her hind legs and began to dance, although it didn't appear to look as sinister as her "Evil Enchantress" dance. "Mmm hmm HM hmn, mmph PHM mph-"

Twilight sighed and used her magic to snatch the piece of paper from Pinkie's mouth. As she read it silently, Pinkie Pie continued, "…her teas are deLICIous, she can prob'ly grant WISHES…"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "So…what, you guys are best buddies now?"

Pinkie Pie either didn't hear the pegasus or ignored her because she continued to sing and dance while Twilight confirmed Rainbow's "theory". "At the very least, they were trading recipes," she responded. "This is a recipe for muffins. Look."

Rainbow squinted as she read aloud, "Zecora's One-Cauldron Muffin Recipe." She scoffed. "Pff. No wonder they're bad. These ingredients sound gross!"

"Not to mention that you can only find some of these ingredients in the Everfree Forest," Twilight replied. "Pinkie, did you go into the forest to get these?"

Pinkie Pie, having concluded her song and dance, shook her head. "Nope! Zecora brought them to me!" She pointed her hoof toward several small bags that presumably held each ingredient separately. One in particular that caught Twilight's eye was a bag labeled "Solanum Root." She approached the bag and sniffed it, noting that it had the same pungent smell as the muffins.

"Say, Pinkie. Do you mind if I take these bags with me? I want to research this 'Solanum Root,' in particular."

"Sure!" Pinkie replied. "If you can figure out why my muffins keep coming out bad, I'd really appreciate it!"

Twilight smiled and placed the bags into her saddlebag. Then she said, "Well, I should get going. I want to check on Spike anyway." She then left the bakery. "See ya!"

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie Pie replied after her. "Say Rainbow Dash! Wanna stay and help me make some cupcakes?" Pinkie's smile grew unnaturally wide as she awaited an answer.

Dash leaned away from Pinkie and chuckled, "Eh, no thanks… I, uh…think I'll hang out with Twilight some more." She turned to leave but stopped when Pinkie Pie asked, "Is it because of that story where I lure you into a dark, spooky basement, then brutally torture you and kill you and make you up into cupcakes and feed you to our friends?" Oddly, Pinkie's smile never left her face.

Rainbow Dash stopped dead in her tracks and turned around slowly. "No, Pinkie, it is not 'because of that story where you lure me into a dark, spooky-' blah, blah, blah… You know I hate that story. It makes me look like a total wimp."

"It really does," Pinkie nodded.

Rainbow sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm outta here. See ya, Pinkie." She turned and flew out of the bakery after Twilight.

After everyone left, Pinkie Pie started cleaning up her bowls. "Sheesh," she said to herself. "It's not like I'd actually do that… Besides, pony-flavored cupcakes would taste terrible!" She then resumed cleaning while humming her "Not-Evil Enchantress Zecora" song.

* * *

><p>"So, what's the deal with Pinkie Pie's muffins, Twi? Do you think Zecora would give Pinkie Pie a bad recipe because we were jerks to her before?" Rainbow Dash was hovering around Twilight as she made her way back to her home.<p>

"I don't know, Rainbow. I don't think Zecora would intentionally give Pinkie Pie a bad recipe. It doesn't seem like her. After all, she helped us when we were affected by the Poison Joke and we thought it was her fault, and then she helped Apple Bloom when she chipped her tooth. Not to mention when she came and told ghost stories during the Nightmare Night celebration…"

"So, it's Pinkie's fault that the muffins are bad."

Twilight stopped and thought for a moment as Dash continued to hover around her. "I don't think so…" She rested her chin on her hoof. "At least…I don't want to think so."

"D'ya mind if I stick around and help you research?" Rainbow Dash landed in front of Twilight and looked at her expectantly. Her countenance fell when Twilight responded with a chuckle, "Rainbow…I doubt that you'll want to hang out and help me do research. After all, it's going to be a lot of finding books and scrolls and reading. You'll probably get bored and doze off or something. I'm not even sure where I would start, or if I have the right books, and I'd really hate to waste your time when you could be out doing something more fun…"

"Pff, fine," Rainbow snorted. "Have fun with your dusty old books. I'm going to go see what Applejack is up to." She quickly flew off, leaving a puff of dust in her wake.

* * *

><p><em>I can't believe Twilight just blew me off like that, <em>Rainbow Dash thought as she flew toward Sweet Apple Acres. _"Oh, let's hang out, Rainbow Dash." "Pinkie Pie __made another batch of muffins and it would be nice if we tried them for her, Rainbow Dash." "We'll have a good time, just you and me…" _Rainbow huffed. _Ok, so she didn't actually say that last part, but that's totally what she was implying. Geez, just make up your mind. Do you wanna hang out with me, or not?_

_Why don't you make up yours, Dash?_

_Who said that?_

_I did. Or, more properly, you did. Look, if you like Twilight, why don't you just tell her like a sensible pony instead of beating yourself up like this? It's not fair to take your frustrations out on her, either. She's a very busy pony and you're not exactly being forward about your feelings for her._

_Shut up._

_You know I'm right._

_So?_

_I'm just sayin'. Grow a pair and come out and tell her!_

_Your face should grow a pair._

_Real mature…_

Rainbow Dash chuckled at that last part. She always had the best comebacks.

* * *

><p>"Hee-YAH!" Applejack's signature 'Apple-Buck' shook the stout post that she used to practice her kicks in the off-season. "Boy howdy, that was a good one! This Applebuck season's gonna be a snap!" she remarked, wiping her brow. Suddenly, she saw a light blue streak heading toward her. "Oh, dear…" She braced herself for impact, but surprisingly, Rainbow Dash managed to make a perfect landing on top of the practice post.<p>

"Hiya, Applejack!" Rainbow Dash called out.

Applejack opened one of her eyes and saw that the pegasus hadn't crashed into her. She immediately called out in her typical cheerful manner, "Well, howdy there, Rainbow Dash! What brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?"

Rainbow glided down from the post and landed in front of Applejack. "Oh, not much," she replied casually. "Just wanna see what everyone's up to."

"Well, Big Mac's still laid up from Pinkie Pie's Great Muffin Disaster of…Yesterday, Apple Bloom is with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle doin' Who-Knows-What tryin' to get their Cutie Marks, and I'm practicin' for Applebuck season. Watch this." Applejack bucked the practice post again, causing it to shake even harder than last time.

Rainbow Dash let out an impressed whistle. "Not bad, not bad…" Then she crouched down into a runner's stance. "I'll bet you still wouldn't be able to beat me in a race! First one to the other side of the orchard wins. Whaddaya say?"

Applejack smiled. "Shucks, you know I can't turn down a challenge." She cast a sly glance in her rival's direction. "I mean…if racin' you was actually a challenge…"

"Oh, it's on!" The two ponies crouched down beside each other. "Ready?" Rainbow asked.

"Set…" Applejack replied.

The two shouted together, "GO!" and they bolted from the "starting line" in a mad dash for the other end of the orchard.

* * *

><p>"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CLOTHIERS GO!" Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle raced around Carousel Boutique gathering all the fabric they could get their hooves on while Rarity looked on in exasperation.<p>

"Please, girls!" Rarity cried dashing from corner to corner of her boutique, resetting mannequins and re-hanging bolts of fabric, "Scootaloo! Please, place that back where you found- Sweetie Belle! That is not a toy! Apple Bloom, plea- AUGH!"

*ding-a-ling*

The Cutie Mark Crusaders halted their quest just long enough for Rarity to yank off a large bolt of fabric that they happened to be entangled in, causing them to roll across the floor. As Rarity hung the cloth back up, she greeted, "Ah, hello there. Sorry it's such a mes- Oh! Fluttershy! Am I glad you're here!"

"Hi, Rarity." Fluttershy glanced around at the torn up shop floor. "I was walking by and I head such a commotion, so I thought I'd see what was going on."

Rarity flipped her mane and sighed. "Oh, it's nothing much. It's just that…_Sweetie Belle," _motioningtoherlittlesister_, "_ and her darling…_friends_," motioning now to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, "have decided to get under my mane and make a complete disaster area of my shop!"

"Oh, that's terrible! Is there anything I can do to help?" Fluttershy started to pick a piece of fabric off of the floor.

Sweetie Belle frowned. "We're sorry, Rarity… We were only trying to help…"

Rarity stepped toward her sister. "I know, Sweetie Belle. But, please ask me before you and your friends just start tearing fabric off of my skeins."

Apple Bloom also apologized, then nudged Scootaloo, who did the same. "Maybe… We'll help you get cleaned up."

Before Fluttershy or Rarity could object, the Cutie Mark Crusaders sprung back into action. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CLEANERS GO!"

* * *

><p>Twilight frowned. Spike had spent the entire morning sleeping, and it didn't seem as if he would wake up anytime soon. The soup that she had made for him and left beside his bed remained untouched and had gotten cold.<p>

"Boy, this is serious…" She pulled Spike's blanket up to his ears and left him sleep. "I hope he gets better soon… I wonder how the other sick ponies are doing."

She walked over to a desk that she had set up near her bookshelves. One by one, she pulled Zecora's ingredients from her saddlebags and placed them on the desk. Then she arranged them in alphabetical order, taking great care not to spill any. "Well," she said to herself. "First things first." She pulled all of the books that she possessed that had anything to do with plants from the shelves and placed them in a large circle around her. She sighed. "This is gonna take a while…"

Spike moaned and turned in his bed.

_At least he's still making noise,_ Twilight thought with relief.

* * *

><p>Deep in the Everfree Forest, Zecora was in her hut, gathering ingredients for a potion.<p>

"_Where did I place my Solanum Root?"_

"_I thought I had it next to the Passion Fruit?"_

She looked around her hut for a while longer before coming to a startling realization.

"_Oh no! With Pinkie Pie of Ponyville it now resides!"_

" _Hopefully to not make my muffins she decides!"_


	2. Chapter 1: It Got Worse

AN: Once again, I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Nor do I own the Mane 6, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Zecora, Spike, or Big Macintosh. I do, however, own shovels. Just in case…

Say Neigh to Zombies

Day 1 – It Got Worse

Twilight Sparkle awoke to the sound of something bumping into her bookshelf. "Mmm… wha…?" She had fallen asleep the previous night with her face in one of her books. As she groggily pulled her head up, she looked for the source of the thumping.

"Grah… Blarg…"

Her eyes having finally adjusted to the sunlight, she noticed that Spike seemed to be repeatedly bumping into one of her bookshelves and moaning. She slowly shook her head and chuckled. "Spike, you still seem a little sleepy. Why don't you rest some more?"

Spike stopped and slowly turned toward her. His eyelids seemed droopy and his mouth hung open, allowing some drool to escape.

"Sheesh, you don't look so good." Twilight trotted over to Spike and gently nudged him back into his bed. He fell onto it rather unceremoniously. After a moment of inactivity, he began moaning again and slowly started to move his hands and feet. Twilight sighed and pulled his covers up. "Get some sleep, Spike…"

She made her way back to her books. "Hmm," she said to herself. "I eliminated five of the ingredients as possibilities to make ponies sick. Three more to go…" She resumed her work.

* * *

><p>"Sheesh, y'all don't look so good, Big Mac…" Applejack had just came upon her brother, Big Macintosh, wandering through the orchard. His eyelids appeared droopy and his mouth hung open slightly. "Maybe you should go back to bed. Sleep it off, huh?"<p>

"Grah…rahgh…" Big Mac took a few steps toward his sister.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow. "Oh…kay?" She looked around for a moment before asking, "Say, ya seen Apple Bloom anywhere?"

"Rah…rargh…"

Applejack turned back toward Big Mac, who had closed the distance between them somewhat. "Look. Seriously, just go back to bed. Ya look like the walkin' dead."

Big Mac apparently took offense to this, because he exhaled with what sounded like a hiss.

Applejack took a few steps back. "Hey now, I ain't gonna make ya do somethin' ya don't want. If ya wanna wander 'round out here, then be my guest." She turned to leave, but before heading off into Ponyville, she asked, "If ya see Apple Bloom, let her know I was lookin' for her, alright?"

Big Mac responded by attempting to bite his sister, but was unsuccessful, as she had already run off.

* * *

><p>"Come on out, little bunny. Everything's okay." Fluttershy was crouched down beside a bush, attempting to coax a small family of rabbits from their hiding place.<p>

"Please, Fluttershy!" an orange-maned pony with a gardening shovel Cutie Mark exclaimed., "Those rabbits have been at my garden all day long, and I need them gone so they don't eat my entire crop!"

Fluttershy turned toward the irate gardener. "I'm doing my best, ma'am. Sometimes these things take time. I'll have them out in a jiffy, don't you worry." She turned back toward the rabbits. "Shh… Nopony's going to hurt you. Just hippity-hop on out of there, please."

"FLUTTER…!" Pinkie Pie's voice rang out from some distance away, "SHY…!" Before anypony could react, Pinkie Pie screeched to a halt by the bush, chasing the rabbits from it. Not even noticing what she had done, she began quickly bouncing up and down, "Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Are you here to get shovels, too? We need shovels! Lots of 'em!" She put her muzzle up against the gardening pony's face. "Do you have any shovels I could borrow?"

The gardening pony backed away slightly. "Hold on," she said. "I think I can get you some." She walked into a nearby shed.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie continued her agitated bouncing while Fluttershy looked on. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! OH! And baseball bats! And, and, and…" She thought for a moment. "Umm…grappling hooks!"

Fluttershy cast a confused glance at her friend. "Shovels? Are you going digging for something?"

As the gardening pony returned with a few gardening shovels, Pinkie looked at Fluttershy while still bouncing. "No, no, much worse! Just get as many shovels as you can! And bats, and grappling hooks, and…" She gasped. "OH! And stakes!" She thought for a moment, then quickly said, "No, no, stakes won't work… AXES!" She looked at the small trowels that the gardening pony brought and rejected them all. She demanded, "No! Bigger! Bigger!" Before the gardening pony could ask for clarification, Pinkie growled in exasperation. "Augh! I might have to go to Plan B!" As suddenly as she appeared, she ran off, leaving the gardening pony, Fluttershy, and the bunny family (who had returned) with perplexed looks on their faces.

* * *

><p>"Tell me how I got wrangled into this again?" Rainbow Dash squirmed as Rarity made a few more adjustments to the saddle of the dress that the pegasus was wearing.<p>

"Why, you _volunteered_, my dear Rainbow Dash." Rarity tugged once more on the saddle, making sure that everything was perfect. "And I thank you very much for doing so." She smiled sweetly at Rainbow Dash and adjusted her sewing glasses. "How does that feel?"

Rainbow shifted her weight from side to side, then craned her neck to see the rest of the dress. It was Rarity's typical fare, lots of luxurious fabric and gems. "Urk. Tight. I can barely move in this thing." She shook, trying to adjust the dress to a more comfortable position, namely off her body. "And I don't remember _volunteering _foranything!"

"Why, of course you did! Don't you remember?" Rarity took a couple of steps back to get a better view of her work. As she walked around Rainbow Dash and inspected her work, she continued. "You asked me for advice. I said that I would give you said advice if you'd do me one teeny-tiny favor. And here you are! Now, be a dear and let me scooch this up a tiny bit. " She pulled some fabric up over Rainbow Dash's shoulders and stepped back again. "Ah! Perfect!"

"Can I take this off now? These frills are cramping my style." Rainbow tried as much as she could to move her shoulders. "And my wings."

Rarity replied, "Ah, yes. You may, but _please_ try to keep it off the floor…" As she turned to put her instruments of dress construction away, she asked, "So, what was it you wanted to ask me about?"

Rainbow peeled the dress off of herself with gusto and immediately let it fall to the ground, much to Rarity's displeasure. "Okay, so here's the thing: I, uh, have this friend..." She then remarked offhandedly, "You probably don't know her."

The unicorn nodded as she grumpily picked the dress up from the floor and put it on a mannequin. "Yes?"

"And she likes one of her friends, you see? You know…_'like_-likes'."

"Oh? What's her name?" Rarity asked, with just a hint of excitement.

Rainbow Dash flinched. "That- That's not important!"

"Of course it is! We could play matchmaker and give these ponies the romantic happy ending they deserve!"

"What?"

"Oh, yes!" Rarity began to wander around her shop in an almost wistful trance. "Imagine, Rainbow Dash… Two souls, so close yet…" She feigned a dramatic swoon. "So far apart… Why should we keep them separate any longer?" She quickly approached her pegasus friend. "Tell me! Has your friend told the object of her affection yet? Does he know that her heart is yearning? Straining to be with another? Yearning for her…ONE! _TRUE!_ _**LOVE?"**_

"Well…" Rainbow cast a sheepish glance downward. "No."

"What? And why not?"

Rainbow Dash was beginning to think that maybe Rarity was the wrong pony to ask about something like this, and decided to cut her losses before Rarity found out that the pony in question was Rainbow Dash, herself. And that the object of her affection was their mutual friend, Twilight Sparkle. "It, uh…" She laughed nervously, "Did I say '_like-_like?' I meant, heh, kinda…like? As a friend, of course! You know what? I think I just thought of what my friend should do. Thanks…anyway?" She grinned nervously.

Rarity leveled her gaze at Rainbow Dash and narrowed her eyes, seeming to glare right into the pegasus' soul. After several tense seconds, her expression returned to normal. "Ah, well! A simple misunderstanding, then. Okay, I don't need your help anymore. You may leave if you wish."

Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of relief and dashed off as quickly as possible.

As Rarity returned to her work, she wondered, _Now why would Rainbow Dash let me in on such a juicy secret, then snatch it away from me at the last possible second?_ Her thoughts were interrupted when she spied her cat, Opalescence, batting at the hem of her newly-made dress. She stamped her hoof down and shouted, "Opal! Stop that this instant!"

* * *

><p>"Trust me. This'll get us our Cutie Marks for sure!" Scootaloo handed a pair of helmets to her companions, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.<p>

Apple Bloom adjusted her helmet to make sure it fit snugly. "Are you sure? This looks a lot like that zip-lining thingy we tried before." Indeed, she was correct. It did, at first glance, appear to be another attempt at zip-lining. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were strapped into a trio of harnesses, and the harnesses were attached to a line, much like the zip line. Looking down, one would see that the line terminated at the side of an old, decrepit cottage.

Scootaloo scoffed. "Pff! As if! This is much cooler! I saw Rainbow Dash do it a while ago. Now try to follow along: First, we race down the rope as fast as we can…"

The other two nodded.

"Then, when we've build up enough speed…"

The two nodded again.

"We crash head-first into the building, causing it to crumble!" Scootaloo's smile widened into a grin as she awaited her friends' reactions.

The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders stared blankly at their friend while she continued to grin.

"Doesn't that sound awesome?" she asked excitedly.

Sweetie Belle was the first to speak up. "That sounds…dangerous… Are you sure it's safe?"

Apple Bloom added, "Yeah… If we're going to wreck the building, why don't we just do it from the ground?"

Scootaloo seemed completely unbothered by her friends' concerns. "Of course it's safe! And we don't do it from the ground because this way is more awesome! Let's go!" The orange pegasus leapt off the platform and zipped toward the building.

Apple Bloom shrugged and followed her friend, with Sweetie Belle nervously following behind.

Moments later, Scootaloo was approaching the cottage at an incredible speed. _This is it! Here…It…COMES!_ She lowered her head and prepared to go crashing though the wall.

Unfortunately, the wall had other plans. It held firm, causing the poor pegasus to wobble her head back and forth while trying to recover fro the collision, and likely seeing stars.

"AHHH!" The two other Cutie Mark Crusaders screamed as they crashed into their friend.

The three hung there for a while, struggling to get out of their harnesses and before long, they were out.

After dropping to the ground, picking themselves up, brushing themselves off, checking for Cutie Marks (which they unfortunately didn't get), the trio began walking away from the building.

Sweetie Belle chirped, "At least we're not covered in tree sap!"

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Whoop-de-do… C'mon guys! We need to think of something else we could do to get our Cutie Marks!"

Apple Bloom walked along and thought for a moment. "Maybe we could- Y'all here that?" She looked back toward the disused building. "I thought I heard somethin'."

Scootaloo cocked her head to the side and strained her ears. "I… I think I hear something, too… C'mon, guys! Let's check it out!" She dashed toward the building.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom followed and soon enough, they were close enough to the cottage to hear shuffling coming from inside. Sweetie Belle was aghast. "I thought you said there was nopony in there! We almost demolished a house that somepony was living in! Scootaloo!"

Scootaloo stammered, "I- I checked it out before we started! I swear that there was nopony in there!"

Apple Bloom, who was peeking into one of the windows, stated, "Welp. There's somepony there. Actually, about four or five someponies… See?" She directed the others to the window that she was peeking in. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle stood on their hind legs to peek into the window, along with Apple Bloom.

The three observed a small group of grayish ponies staggering around what appeared to be the kitchen area. Another pony was lying on the floor, apparently asleep since it wasn't moving and splattered with what appeared to be raspberry jelly or ketchup.

Scootaloo shouted, "I swear! When I checked out the building this morning, there was nopony in there!"

Apple Bloom shushed her friend. "I don't think they see us. Maybe we can just slip away unnoticed…"

"What?" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "We can't just ram into their house and sneak away as if nothing happened! We have to apologize and set things right!" She started to make her way around to the front of the house, but her friends pulled her away.

Apple Bloom said, "But they're bigger'n us! And Applejack says I shouldn't talk to strangers unless she's around. We'll get my sister and come back, honest!"

Sweetie Belle agreed with this decision and started to make her way back into town. As the other two followed, Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom, "Great idea! You're not _actually_ going to get your sister, are you?"

Apple Bloom gave the pegasus a quizzical look. "Of course we are. Applejack says that honesty is always the best policy!"

Scootaloo replied by heaving a sigh. "Fine…"

* * *

><p>Applejack was initially ticked when she found Apple Bloom, along with her friends, running around Ponyville. She was expecting her younger sister to help her out in the orchard, since Big Mac was sick. And although it seemed that he was able to get out of bed, he still didn't seem quite up to snuff, and Apple Bloom would have to pick up some of the slack. However, before Applejack could scold her sister, The Cutie Mark Crusaders began explaining what they saw at the old cottage.<p>

"…but then we found out that there were already ponies inside!" Apple Bloom finished explaining as Applejack listened.

"There weren't any when I check it out this morning! Seriously! Why doesn't anypony believe me?" Scootaloo added.

"We're really sorry…" Sweetie Belle concluded.

Applejack nodded. "Well, Apple Bloom, I'm right glad ya'll came ta' me first. Now, let's go back there and explain what happened."

Applejack, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle stood outside the front of the decrepit house. The front door hung open and the silence around the area was palpable. "Are y'all _sure_ this is where ya went?" She looked inside one of the windows

The Cutie Mark Crusaders went around the cottage and pointed out their zip line. "Yup," Apple Bloom confirmed. "This's the place."

Sweetie Belle cowered by Apple Bloom's sister. "Do…do you think they're _looking for us…?_"

"Stay here. I'm gonna go check inside." Applejack left the three fillies by the front door.

The air inside the house was stale, as if the place hadn't been lived in for some time. Cobwebs adorned many of the corners and a thin layer of dust coated many of the surfaces. _Alright, Applejack. Stay cool. It's just a big, spooky, empty house… Nuthin' in here's gonna-" _As she turned into what appeared to be the kitchen area, she had to stifle a gasp. Lying in the middle of the floor was a pony. At first glance, it appeared to be sleeping. As the orange earth pony drew closer, she felt her hoof land in something sticky. _Aw, horseapples…_ She glanced down at her hoof and saw that she had stepped in what appeared to be some kind of jelly or maybe jam. "Now, why in tarnation…" She scraped her hoof on a nearby rug, leaving a rust-colored stain.

She approached the pony and saw that it wasn't moving. At all. She crouched down and took a closer look at it and noted that the mane appeared to be matted in places and that it was covered in the jelly that was splattered all over the kitchen. "Psst. You sleepin'?" She nudged the pony with her hoof. To her surprise, the sleeper didn't even make a peep. Her concern growing, she nudged it a little harder this time, still with no response. _Maybe this is one a' the sick ponies from th'other day…_ "Hey! You alright?" She rolled the pony over and suddenly realized to her horror why it hadn't moved all this time: As it rolled onto its back, its head lobbed to the side, revealing that a large chunk had been taken out of its throat. _That wasn't jelly…that was…_ If she didn't have to worry about her sister and her friends hearing, Applejack would've screamed. _Gotta think about them! I don't wanna get them all riled up…_ Shaking and choking back her scream, she nervously backed out of the cottage and found Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. They appeared to have distracted themselves by attempting to retrieve their zip line. Upon finding the fillies, Applejack shouted, "Hey! We're leavin'! Get yer stuff and let's get goin'!" After a moment, she added, "NOW!"

Apple Bloom, who was standing below to catch the zip line wimpered, "Are we in trouble…?"

"N- No. Yer not in trouble. Just…git goin'. Go home, Apple Bloom. Alla y'all, get yerselves home. I haveta go talk to Twilight." _Or somepony…_


	3. Chapter 2: It Got Much Worse

Chapter 2 – Day 1 (Still)

It Got (Much) Worse

"Uh huh… Go on…" In the middle of Ponyville's library, Twilight Sparkle half listened to Applejack's story while she searched for another book. She had thus far managed to eliminate every ingredient as the source of the ponies' sickness. In fact, she thought she might have to try her hoof at cooking Zecora's muffins herself sometime, as all of the ingredients she had been able to research were not only recorded as tasting good, but they provided various health benefits as well. The 'Solarum Root' that the recipe called for was especially known for improving one's eyesight and mental faculties.

Applejack shot her friend a quizzical glance. "Are y'all even listenin'?"

Not even turning to face the earth pony, Twilight continued searching. "Yeah. Yeah. No…that's not it… Please continue, Applejack."

"Then what'd I just say?"

Twilight sighed in exasperation. "That the Crusaders came to you because they saw some suspicious ponies in an old barn, or something… Please, I need to concentrate for a moment."

Applejack stomped, causing a slight tremor. "What the _Sam Hill_ are you doin', Twilight? This is serious!"

The lavender unicorn stopped and slowly turned toward her friend, and in as calm of a voice as she could manage, she stated, "I've eliminated all of the ingredients in Zecora's recipe as catalysts for the ponies' sickness."

"That's great and all, but-"

"I'm not finished," Twilight said coldly. "I was about to pack up the ingredients and give them back to Pinkie when I noticed that instead of '_Solarum_ Root', like the recipe called for, one of the bags was labeled '_Solanum_ Root.' Unfortunately, none of the books that I own seem to say a thing about it…" She returned to using her magic to pull various books off of her shelves. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

"SHE WAS _DEAD_, TWILIGHT!"

The unicorn let the book she was levitating fall to the floor, resulting in a dull thud that seemed to linger in the now-still air. After what seemed like several minutes, Twilight shakingly whispered, "Who…? Who was…dead?"

"I don't right know…," her friend whispered in response. "But it was bad, Twi… It was real bad…"

* * *

><p>"Are you <em>sure<em> this is the place?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I mean, who the heck would be living _here_?"

After recovering from her initial shock, Twilight had gathered her group of friends to investigate Applejack's claim. They now all stood in front of the dilapidated cottage. "Well," Twilight gulped. "We have to go inside." Fluttershy showed more than a little trepidation, as was characteristic of her timid nature. Applejack shared her concern and kept close to the pastel yellow pegasus. Even the normally chipper Pinkie Pie seemed a little uneasy with the whole situation. "I should be all about this," she half heartedly joked. "I love spooky, old, dilapidated houses that may or may not have spooky ghosites in them." Rarity huffed, "Not funny, Pinkie…" She then shakingly asked, "So… Who wants to go first?"

"I think I'll stay out here, if'n y'all don't mind," Applejack replied. "I don't need to see it again…"

"I'll stay out here, too. If that's okay," Fluttershy added, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Oh, come _ON!_ How bad can it be?" Rainbow took a few steps toward the house. What she didn't know was that when gathering the group, Applejack and Twilight had mercifully left out the part where the dead pony was missing her throat. "Let's just get this over with." Before anypony could stop her, she dashed off through the still-open front door.

The rest of the group stood completely dumbfounded for several tense moments. Twilight hesitantly took a step forward and was about to say something about following her in, when the group heard Rainbow's blood-curdling scream.

As the five friends raced into the house, the screaming cut off suddenly. Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and even Fluttershy and Applejack practically tripped over each other in an attempt to find their winged friend. When they finally clamored into the kitchen area, where the screams were coming from, they found Rainbow Dash lying on the floor, completely motionless.

"R- Rainbow…? Rainbow…Dash…?" Rarity stepped forward to investigate, which would turn out to be a grave mistake. She extended one shaking hoof toward her friend before Rainbow suddenly leapt on top of her."RAAHH!"

Rarity and the others screamed, and the white unicorn managed to throw the pegasus off of her. Rainbow lay slumped by the wall for a moment before she started shaking and hissing.

Twilight crept over to her while Pinkie followed her, carrying a shovel that none of the others noticed she had before. "Rainbow Dash? Are you okay?"

Dash's hissing became louder and louder before if turned into full-on giggling. Her eyes suddenly opened wide before she grinned and thrust a hoof in her friends' direction. "HA! Gotcha!"

Pinkie Pie dropped her shovel and stood motionless for a moment. Then she smirked. Then her smirk turned into a snicker, and from a snicker to giggle, until she was rolling on the floor laughing. The other ponies looked on until Pinkie sat up and wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, wow," she giggled. "You got us good, Rainbow!"

Applejack frantically scanned the room. "It's…it's not here!" She cried out, "It's not here, y'all!"

Twilight scolded Applejack. "It's not funny anymore. Actually, it wasn't funny to begin with… Why did you get us all scared? For some…some…"

"Practical joke?" Rarity chimed in. "And using my sister and her friends to 'corroborate' your story. Shame on you! Poor Fluttershy probably almost had a heart attack."

Fluttershy simply glared at the orange pony. "How could you?"

Applejack shook and frantically dashed from one side of the room to the other. "I- I- I swear! There was a dead pony here! Why don't y'all believe me?" She directed her next comment at Twilight. "I'm th'Element a' Honesty fer a reason!"

"Dead bodies don't just get up and leave, Applejack," Twilight explained.

"They don't…" Pinkie Pie added. "Unless it's a _ZOMBIE_!" She got up on her hind legs and started staggering around the kitchen and making moaning sounds.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "We're not in a zombie movie, Pinkie…"

Pinkie stopped dead in her tracks and returned to all fours. "Well! I know who's not getting any of _my _shovels, _Twilight Sparkle…_" She glared ominously at the purple unicorn until the latter sighed and turned away.

"I, for one, have no more desire to stay around here. I'm leaving." Rarity huffed and stormed out, muttering how dreadful the décor was and how she could've been doing something more important. Fluttershy glared and followed her. Twilight was slightly more understanding. She approached Applejack and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Look, I know you've been working harder than normal since your brother got sick, but you need to find another way to release your stress. Maybe try reading a book…" She then looked around. "Maybe I'll talk to the Mayor about getting this place demolished. It's uninhabitable."

As Pinkie Pie bounced past her friend, she quipped, "_I_ thought it was funny. You all should've seen the looks on your faces! Heehee!"

"Priceless! HA!" Rainbow Dash flew past Applejack and out the door, leaving the earth pony alone in the house.

Applejack looked around the kitchen at the spot where she found the unfortunate pony. "I _know_ what I _saw_…" A singular tear welled up in her eye.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Applejack was working in a lesser-used area of the orchard, trying to distract herself. In a large barn in this area was where they kept the rotten apples from previous seasons for making apple cider. Also within the barn were several barrels filled with "aged" (a fancy word meaning "old" Applejack knew) cider. Normally, it would be Big Mac's job to collect the barrels and dispose of them before anypony got their hooves on the stuff (fermented apples and ponies…don't mix), but since he now couldn't be found, it was up to her to roll the barrels out of the barn and get them stacked up for "Zippy's Pegasus Moving Company" to collect them and haul them away to "some island or another". While she heaved and grunted, her mind kept coming back to the dead pony in the cottage. <em>I know what I saw… But it wasn't there…<em> Then she heard Twilight's voice in her head. "_Dead bodies don't just get up and leave…"_ Then she heard Pinkie's voice, "_Unless it's a ZOMBIE!"_

_A ZOMBIE!_

_A ZOMBIE!_

"A ZOMBIE!"

"Pinkie Pie! Cut it out!" Applejack snapped back to reality and huffed. She turned toward the pink earth pony that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, as Pinkie Pie was wont to do. "I don't have any more 'jokes' today. Please let me work." She started to flip a barrel over so she could roll it out of the barn. As she tried to steady it with her hooves, Pinkie Pie suddenly leapt behind her, causing her to drop it, spilling its contents on the ground. "Ah! Dadgum, Pinkie! Whaddaya want?"

The pink pony pointed out a precariously positioned pod of the potent potable to her perplexed platonic partner. "Can I have one of those?"

"One a' those barrels of cider?" Applejack asked. "I dunno, Pinkie. They've been agin' for a while." She chuckled. "They're prolly a might strong fer drinkin'. Th'only use you'd get outta them is maybe makin' a rum cake."

Pinkie Pie gave Applejack a questioning look. "Why on Equestria would I make a _rum _cake with _apple cider_? Don't you know _anything_ about baking?" She hugged one of the barrels and grinned. "Oh no, I have much BIGGER plans! Ever since I was able to get some shovels, I can stay on track with Plan A! Isn't that wonderful?"

"I…suppose…?"

"Great! Thanks!" Pinkie picked up the barrel with her front legs and dashed off, leaving Applejack to scratch her head and wonder how she does stuff like that.

After a moment, she sighed. "Back ta' work…" Just as she was going to attempt to right the barrel that she spilled, she heard Rainbow Dash shout, "LOOK OUT BELOW!" The earth pony was savvy enough to close her eyes and brace herself for impact once again.

It was entirely necessary this time, as Rainbow Dash performed a perfect belly-flop into the puddle of "aged" apple cider. Applejack, upon opening her eyes, couldn't help but chuckle. "Heh. Serves ya right."

Dash pulled her head up from under the puddle and spit out some of the cider. "What the hay's _that_ supposed to mean?" She spit a few more times for good measure.

Applejack replied indignantly, "Y'all made an ass outta me at that cottage. I don' even know why I'm talkin' to ya."

"Hey," Dash retorted, standing and shaking herself off. "_You're_ the one who led us to an empty house, all scarin' me…I mean Fluttershy and the rest…" Shaking a hoof dry, she added, "I saw an opportunity for a good joke of my own, and I took it!"

"But it _WASN'T_ a joke! I really did see a dead pony in that house!" Realizing that she may have said that last part a little loudly, possibly loud enough for her younger sister to hear, she lowered her voice. "I swear on my life, RD!"

"Wow, you're really sticking to it, huh? Look, if it makes ya feel any better, they think that you and I planned the whole thing. Twilight told me so herself! That's…part of the reason I'm here…" The pegasus cast her gaze downward and kicked at a pebble.

Applejack grunted. She recalled that the last time that she and her friends had turned their backs on each other, the world was literally plunged into chaos. Grudgingly, she asked, "Wanna talk about it?" Dash sheepishly nodded. "Then help me with these," the earth pony replied, shoving a barrel in Dash's direction. The pegasus heaved the barrel, but found herself unable to push it. "Geez, AJ! What's in these? Rocks?"

"Ya gotta _roll_ 'em, hon." She pushed a barrel over to demonstrate. "And no, it's cider."

"Then why don't we just drink it?" Dash managed to pop the lid off of the barrel that she was working on and took a mighty swig of the harsh liquid inside. When her head surfaced, it went back further than it should have and pulled her off balance. She staggered back and forth for a while before finally grasping the side of the barrel to steady herself. "WHOO HOO!" she cried. "That's some good stuff!" Then she squinted at Applejack and mentioned, "Hey… Why're you wobbling back and forth? Ohhh… I get it… You were hitting somma this stuff and…empty house…pony…" She stopped and blinked hard a few times. "You… You gotta stop movin' around like that. It's makin' it _real_ hard to talk to ya…"

Applejack, who had been standing still the entire time, rolled her eyes. _Guess we won't be gettin' any work done now…_ "So, what they hay's been troublin' ya anyway?"

* * *

><p>Applejack took a sip from the barrel that the two ponies had been sharing, as she listened to her heartsick pegasus friend. By this time, she had to dip her head in pretty deep, and nearly fell in. "We should… We should really tip this over. Just a scootch…" She nudged it a little harder than she meant to, and knocked the entire thing over. Rainbow Dash almost appeared as if she would cry.<p>

"What a waste… We'll miss you…" She wept as she waved one hoof at the spilled-out cider. Performing this action caused her to wobble a bit. "So…so, whaddya think? 'Bout what I said?"

"'Bout Twilight? We all love her, shug. We're insep- insep- we'll always stick together… All sixa' us. We're all connected, right here…" Applejack stumbled forward and jabbed her hoof into Dash's chest. "Right here."

Rainbow brushed her friend's hoof away. "You don't get it! I _love…_ her. Like…like…how a stallion and a mare love each other." She gave Applejack a long, hard stare. "Do you think that makes me a filly-fooler?"

"Pff! A filly-fooler? Pff, shucks naw!" She looked at Dash again. "No," she stated.

"Omigosh! What if the _Wonderbolts_ found out? What if they found out that I love Twilight and they think I'm a filly-fooler? Applejack! WHAT! IF! THEY! FIND! OUT!" Dash grabbed her friend and shook her back to front with every word she shouted.

"SHH! If'n y'all keep yellin' like that, they _will _find out!"

"Uhh…ladies?" A colt's voice interrupted AJ and RD's little "party". It seemed that the movers had finally arrived. The three movers that were sent were, incidentally, Rainbow Dash's old Cloudsdale bullies: Billy, Hoops, and Score.

Applejack sauntered over to the tallest one and cooed, "Well, ain't _you_ a tall drink a' water…"

Dash instantly recognized her old enemies and brushed past her friend. "Applejack! These guys are- The guys are jerks! You don't want anything to do with 'em!" She swayed back and forth as she said this.

"Oh, hey… Rainbow _Crash_," Billy quipped. Hoops, noticing Dash's inebriated state, nudged his friend in the side and snickered, "Or should we say Rainbow _Trashed_?" Applejack snickered and added, "Rainbow _Blitzed_…"

Dash growled and muttered, "Don't you guys have anything better to do? Like _colt-cuddling_?" Hoops and Score glanced at each other, but quickly composed themselves.

"Sh-shut up Rainbow Crash…" Hoops blurted. "We all know that you fool around with that orange pegasus. What's her name? Scat-something?"

Dash crouched into an attack pose and glared at her bullies. "Take that back…"

Even the now lusty Applejack was beginning to get annoyed at the pegasus trio. "Ain't y'all gonna get ta work?" She stepped in front of Dash to ensure that she didn't do anything she might regret.

Billy spoke up. "We're getting to it, we're getting to it…" He limped past Applejack and pushed one of the barrels. Noticing that Billy's leg was bandaged up, Applejack asked, "Say, what's up with yer leg?"

Billy stopped pushing the barrel for a moment. "I didn't know ya cared…but if you must know, some hobo in Cloudsdale _bit_ me earlier today."

Dash interjected, "You prob'ly deserved it. I don't feel bad for ya at all."

Billy snickered. "Actually, I was on my way to get a shirt that I was having made. _You'd love it, Crash…_" With that, he resumed his work and sung under his breath, _"__Cupcakes, so sweet and tasty. Cupcakes, don't be too hasty. Cupcakes...cupcakes, cupcakes, CUPCAKES!"_

"That…book…" Dash, now seething with rage, screamed, "THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA MAKE _YOU_ INTO CUPCAKES!"

With those words, she shoved her way past Applejack and pounced on the unfortunate pegasus.


	4. Chapter 3: 2 point 8 Days Later

Chapter 3: Day 3

2.8 Days Later

Billy the pegasus awoke to the same sight as he'd seen for the past couple of days. White. Hospital White. He tried to move his hind legs, but they still didn't budge. _Rainbow Crash really put a hurtin' on me._ He snickered. _Totally worth it to see the look on her face…_ He glanced to his right at the sunflowers that his buddies, Hoops and Score sent to him. A tiny card attached to the flowers read, "Get Well Soon, Buddy!" _Blech, flowers. Those guys…_ _They were always a little frilly… _He made a mental note to ask them about it later. They were probably just messin' with him. Yeah, that's it. He'd definitely find out for sure what was going on with those two after he got back on his hooves.

_Great Celestia, I gotta get out of here. I gotta fly!_ Doctor Hockenhoof had told him that he shouldn't try moving for another day or so, at least. _But what's he know? He probably hasn't flown for fun in, like, a billion years._ Billy pulled on the cord that was attached to a tiny bell in the hallway. The "Call String". _At least the nurse who's been taking care of me is easy on the eyes._ He made another mental note to see if she had a colt-friend when he was finally able to leave.

A knock at his door caused him to start. _Wow. That was quick. Alright. Here we go!_ "Come on in!" he cheerfully called.

The door didn't open. Billy heard another knock, as if somepony was bumping their shoulder against it. _The heck?_ He struggled to get out of his bed and, swaying to and fro, he finally managed to roll himself onto the floor. As shockwaves of pain flashed through his legs, he pulled himself up. _Maybe somepony locked the door last night._ "I'll get it. Hold on." He practically crawled to his door and lifted himself up to it with all of his might. _Maybe the doc was right after all… It's cool, though. Nurse Hottie will have to escort me back into bed._ As he reached for the bolt on the door, he played the scenario out in his head:

_Nurse Hottie will come in. "Oh, my! You shouldn't be out of bed! Dr. Hockenhoof said that you shouldn't be walking around for another day or so."_

_Then I'll say, "Nah, baby, it's cool. Opening a simple door is nothing for a pony as awesome as me." I'll give her "The Look" and be all cool. She'll melt like frickin' butter._

"_Oh, you're so strong and handsome!"_

His hoof lifted the bolt and slid it back.

_She'll lead me back into the bed. "Now, I don't want you to exert yourself too much. We'll need to save some of that energy for later…" She'll, like, all wink and stuff. It'll be totally hot..._ Billy licked his lips as the door swung open to reveal "Nurse Hottie."

But, she didn't seem like herself. Something seemed…off… Billy's first hint that something was wrong was that she didn't chastise Billy for being out of his bed, or wink at him, or anything. She didn't even blink. In fact, the only thing that she did that let Billy know that she even acknowledged his existence was a slight moan. The second thing that should've tipped off the pegasus to the fact that there was something up was that her eyes appeared glazed over, her fur was matted in places, and one could see blood dripping from her slacked jaw. In fact, she looked for all appearances like the 'hobo' who bit him earlier…

_Horse ap-_

The zombified Nurse Hottie leapt upon the unfortunate Billy. Others in the hallway heard the commotion and began to stagger toward their new meal.

* * *

><p>"Whew!" Twilight Sparkle flipped her mane and examined her work while Rainbow Dash hovered overhead. All of the books on her shelves were neatly organized and not one volume was out of place. "Wow, Rainbow Dash! If you weren't here, this would've taken forever!"<p>

Dash performed a midair flip. "What'd I tell ya! Ten. Seconds. Flat."

Twilight giggled slightly. "Well, maybe it wasn't _exactly_ ten seconds, by my calculations, but you were such a big help! I'm not quite sure how to thank you."

The blue pegasus blushed. "Aw, t'weren't nuthin'."

"Nonsense. There must be _something_ I can do." Twilight paced toward her desk and thought for a moment. "Hmm…" She glanced into one of her open spellbooks. As if a light bulb went off in her head, she snapped to attention and gleefully shouted, "I got it! Spell Number 27 should do the trick!"

"Spell Number 27…?"

Twilight giggled again. Dash always thought the unicorn sounded cute when she laughed. _She should do it more often, _she thought. As Twilight silently read from the spellbook, she explained, "Remember the spell I used to give Rarity her wings when we visited you in Cloudsdale for the Best Young Flier's Competition? Well, I've been working on it in my downtime." She looked up from reading and grinned at her pegasus friend. "And now I finally get to use it!" She concentrated, causing her horn to glow with a violet light. Before long, there was a bright flash. When Dash opened her eyes, her friend was hovering before her, adorned with beautiful translucent wings, much like a butterfly's. "What do you think?" the unicorn cooed.

"I…I…" Rainbow stammered. _I know exactly what I want to say… But I can't say it…_ She nervously licked her lips, trying to find the right words.

"Shh…" Twilight put her hoof up to Dash's lips. "You don't have to say anything…" She fluttered closer to her friend until they were almost within nuzzling distance.

_I…I can't believe it…_ Dash felt a vibration, as if the earth beneath her very hooves was shaking. This was odd, considering that the two ponies were hovering above the floor of Twilight's library. She felt the vibrations getting stronger and stronger, as the two leaned in closer and closer, until…

"_**RAINBOW DASH!"**_

*pop*

Dash jerked her head up. She barely had enough time to register that she was in her bed, in her house in Cloudsdale, before she heard a crash. _That sounded like Scootaloo's voice…_ She leapt out of bed to see what the matter was but before getting to her window, she felt a tightness in her back. She glanced backward and noticed that her wings were standing straight up. She rolled her eyes and tried to shake off the embarrassing condition. _Stupid Wingboner…_

When her wings had loosened up some, Dash leaned out her window to find Scootaloo dusting herself off and picking up her scooter. "Hey!" Dash shouted. "What's up?"

Scoots, having heard her idol's shouts, looked up. Dash noticed that instead of her normal look of adoration, the orange pegasus' eyes showed only the most profound fear she'd seen since…

_That's the look that AJ gave me when she said about the…_ "Hold on, buddy! I'm comin' down!"

Rainbow Dash barely had time to land in front of her admirer before Scoots rushed up to and embraced Dash tightly. "They didn't eat you! Thank Celestia they didn't eat you!"

Dash had to almost peel the poor filly from around her leg. "_Eat_ me? What're you talking about?"

* * *

><p>Dash recalled that, sure, there were some ponies in Equestria who were acting stranger than usual, and that's even by "Pinkie Pie" standards. She had heard about earth ponies wandering around Ponyville, moaning and biting at other ponies. Several of the palace guards had gone there and apprehended some of them, but no explanation had been given as to why they were doing what the were doing, or what had happened to the ones who were taken away. She also remembered that things had sort of gone south between the friends in the past couple of days. Applejack had barricaded Sweet Apple Acres, for one thing. During the couple of times that she was able to get in touch with the earth pony, the only information that she'd been able to get from her is, "When I find what I'm lookin' fer, I'll let ya know…" Dash thought that it wasn't like the normally frank and forthright pony to be so cryptic, but perhaps she was still bitter from being "made an ass of".<p>

Twilight remained holed up in her library. She was absolutely convinced that she could find out what this "Solanum Root" was, but by Royal Decree she wasn't allowed to go to Canterlot and search the royal library for any information, even after Dash herself offered to go in her stead.

Rarity, as far as anypony knew, was still in her shop, making dresses. Dash knew that for Rarity, this kind of thing was natural; she wouldn't risk going out with those "Weird ponies" wandering about and possibly mussing her hair. She wondered how many dresses she had actually finished in that time, and if there was any room in her house for anything else.

Whenever Dash had seen Pinkie, she was demanding another odd or end from the other ponies. When she asked the party pony about it, she found out that so far Pinkie had gathered:

7 Shovels, 2 Baseball Bats, 3 Axes, 2 Grappling Hooks, 17 Bottles, A Bolt of Cloth, A Barrel of AJ's "Aged" Apple Cider, A Length of Rope, Flint, A Copper Pipe (even though she would've preferred steel), A Comic Book ("The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well", Issue #5), Ear Plugs, a Fishing Rod, a Stapler, and 6 Pillows.

Nopony had seen or heard from the timid Fluttershy since the "prank". Dash had even made it a point during the past two days to knock at the door to her cottage, but she hadn't responded.

* * *

><p>"They…they…" Scootaloo sobbed, "They <em>ATE<em> my parents!" She climbed the blue pegasus' front until she was almost at the other's face. "And they were going to eat _me_!"

"Now, now… Calm down a sec. They _ate_ your parents?"

Scootaloo grabbed Dash's face with her front hooves and shook it back and forth. "What part of _THEY ATE MY PARENTS_ don't you understand? I was sleeping…in my bed…when I suddenly heard screaming coming from in the kitchen. I came down because I thought mom saw a spider or something and…and…" the young pegasus sniffled.

"And a _spider_ ate your parents?"

"NO! It was the _WEIRD PONIES!_"

Dash's eyes widened. If the Weird Ponies were actually _eating_ ponies now, then that meant that Twilight… "C'mon, Scoot! We gotta get outta here!" Dash threw her admirer onto her back, knowing that there was no way that the young pegasus could fly anywhere near as fast as her. "Hang on, kiddo!" With those words, Rainbow dashed off toward Ponyville.

* * *

><p>"Back! Back, you vile beast!"<p>

"You tell 'im, Rarity!"

Rarity clumsily levitated the piece of broken chair and attempted to strike the offending "weird pony," while here sister hid underhoof. _Imagine! The nerve of some ponies!_ she thought indignantly. _To arouse me from my beauty sleep and smashing my storefront window in the process!_

The "weird pony" continued to approach, seeming to ignore the white unicorn's warning. "I mean it! Back off!" Rarity cried as her improvised weapon connected soundly with the "weird pony's" face with a loud "CRACK!"

The two unicorns stood there, stunned and wide eyed as the grayish vandal seemed to shrug off the blow, responding only with an offended, "Gragh…wrarg…" After that, it continued to advance.

"I don't think it worked! Hit it again!" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Oh really?" her older sister replied, sarcastically. She glared at the zombified pony. "Very well. Here we go!" She closed her eyes and struck at it again, even harder this time. When she looked back up, she saw that the "weird pony's" head seemed to be cocked at an extremely uncomfortable angle, but that it also kept approaching.

The two unicorns backed up a step before Sweetie Belle screamed and tugged her sister's tail. "There's another one!"

_Drat! This doesn't bode well…_ Rarity swung her weapon wildly in an attempt to keep the zombified ponies at bay. She had seen firsthand what they had done to her beloved Opalescence. She had to give the feline credit, however; it had fought tooth and nail to its last breath. And now it seemed that the two unicorns would have to do the same.

And they certainly would have if a certain heroic earth pony hadn't shown up then and there. Her entrance was certainly flashy enough.

Rarity heard, from outside her shop, a familiar, folksy voice shout, "Ready, Apple Bloom?"

Apple Bloom's voice shouted back, "Ready!" Sweetie Belle imagined that the filly likely saluted, as well.

"DUCK!" Applejack's command suddenly registered with Rarity and her sister, and the two were able to hit the floor just before a barrage of small, extremely fast-moving projectiles flew through the shop, destroying nearly everything in their path, as well as cutting down the zombies.

* * *

><p>"Ye-HAW! Y'all really let 'em have it, sis!" Applejack leapt off the cart that had been carrying Apple Bloom, herself, and the weapon. Applejack heard that the weapon was called a "Minigun" although, for the life of her, she wasn't sure why. <em>Shoot! There's nuthin 'mini' about it! Mebbe they shoulda' called it a 'mega-gun'!<em>

Her younger sister sat behind the gun, completely dumbfounded. "I…I thought it just spun… I hope everypony's alright…"

Applejack pushed open the door to Carousel Boutique, causing it to fall off of its hinges. She was greeted by an extremely irate Rarity.

"What. Have. You. Done?" the white unicorn seethed. She was breathing heavily and glaring at her savior.

Applejack gave her a confused look. "I, uh…saved your life?"

Still seething, Rarity responded. "No…my _dear _Applejack! You…_DESTORYED! MY! SHOP!_"

"And who, pray tell, would buy dresses from ya when yer _dead_?"

Rarity sheepishly glanced around her decimated shop. "Well…perhaps that…uh…"

"Thank you, Applejack!" Sweetie Belle leapt forward and hugged the earth pony, then trotted out of the shop to greet her friend and find out just what the heck she'd done.

Applejack glanced back at Rarity. "Are we done here? I have a few more ponies ta pick up, if ya get mah drift."


	5. Chapter 4: Lab Rats, Aren't We All?

Chapter 4: Day 3 (Still)  
>Lab Rats (Aren't We All?)<p>

"Stop it, Spike! Now this'll only take a minute…" Twilight Sparkle turned away from her bound former assistant and ducked under some roots to make her way back to some of the books she had opened. She hadn't used the basement of her home for research purposes for a while, she couldn't blame herself. The basement was filthy, dark, a little damp, and it smelled terrible.

Or maybe the smell was coming from Spike. Twilight tried to reassure herself that the sores and open wounds on his hide weren't her fault. After all, she only bucked, and dislocated, his jaw in an attempt to defend herself. His crushed right arm was a result of _him_ knocking a large book from her shelf. Some of his claws were broken because _he_ tried to claw his way through his temporary "Holding Area" upstairs. The rope burns were because _he_ struggled against his bonds and also dislocated his shoulder. She had tried to reason with him at first. After all, this was still that baby dragon that she had adopted when she became Celestia's student. He had always been her faithful assistant, and her first best friend. She had told him, as he tried to bite her that the spell she would cast might hurt him. Then the next, and the next, and the one after that.

Before she knew it, it stopped bothering her, listening to him moan and scratch the floor in an attempt to get at her for the past day and a half. In fact, it was beginning to _bother_ her…

"Rargh…grarph…*drool* Spike valiantly struggled against his binds. He tried once more to bite his former mentor, but found himself unsuccessful as she was quite a few steps away from him.

She flipped through the pages of her copy of _Supernaturals_, believing that Spike and the _Weird Ponies_ were under the effects of some kind of curse. _It has to be the Solanum Root! But why won't the Princess tell me anything? I must've sent her dozens of letters, but she hasn't responded to any of them…_

She suddenly heard a banging from the upstairs door.

_Weird Ponies…_ Twilight cast an annoyed glance at the cellar door. _It should hold until I'm done with Spike._ She almost considered letting one or two more in, so she'd have more specimens, but decided against it. _Not too many…not yet…_

The banging continued.

"I'm not ready for you!" Twilight shouted. "Come again later!"

The banging stopped for a moment, before Rainbow Dash's voice called out, "Twilight? Are you down there? What're you talking about? Are you okay?"

_Rainbow Dash? She's not a Weird Pony... She can speak. But maybe…_ "Coming, Rainbow Dash," the unicorn sang as she ascended the stairs. _Maybe I can make her INTO a Weird Pony… Then I'll have a fresh specimen…_ She unlocked and opened the door, revealing not one, but _two_ pegasi. It appeared that Scootaloo was with her.

_Perfect!_

Twilight smiled at her friends. "Come in, come in! I was just getting some things ready." She bounded down the stairs, expecting the two pegasi to follow, but they instead stood their ground. The unicorn glanced back. "Well?" she chirped. "What're you waiting for? A written invitation?" She levitated a scroll and quill and began to write and read aloud, "Dear Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, I'm having a _great_ party and I'd like to invite you both to my _great_ party! Signed your _bestest_ friend, Twilight Sparkle." She held up the note for the pegasi to read and grinned as unsuspiciously as she could. "See? Written invitation. Just like Pinkie Pie's."

Dash raised an eyebrow. "Are…are you feeling well?"

"Of course!" Twilight grinned.

Scootaloo edged closer to Rainbow Dash and whispered, "_She might try to make us play with her ratty, old Smarty-Pants doll. Be careful…"_

"Stay here and watch the door. I'll go," Dash replied. She followed Twilight down the stairs into the basement proper.

* * *

><p>"Grah…ragh…"<p>

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Dash heard moaning. "Twi? Is that you?" Suddenly, the area was lit in a faint, purple glow. The glow, she saw, was surrounding a bound Spike. Another source of light, slightly more faint, came from Twilight's horn.

"Just hold still, Rainbow. This'll only take a moment." With those words, the unicorn levitated Spike and brought him closer to the blue pegasus. Spike attempted to take a bite of Dash, but she was a little too quick in backing away.

"What they hay? Watch where you're putting him! He almost bit me!"

Twilight's eyes sparkled in the purple light. "I know… I'll do better this time." She thrust Spike in her direction again, but still Dash was still too fast. After another swipe, the pegasus left the floor and hid herself among the roots in the ceiling.

"You're _trying_ to get him to bite me," Dash yelped, stating the obvious.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Well, _duh_! How am I going to get more specimens?" As she practically threw Spike into the ceiling and chased her friend with him, she explained, "You see, I theorize that…rats…Pinkie's muffins _did_ cause all of this…where'd you go? Oh, there you are! Anyway…the only ingredient that I wasn't able to eliminate…so close!...was the Solanum Root! That's one problem solved, right? But it only brought about more questions…STOP MOVING!" Twilight lowered Spike back to the ground and heaved. _How hard is it to catch one pegasus? Well, it is Rainbow Dash… Fluttershy wouldn't have given me this much trouble…_ She released her magical hold over her former assistant, darkening the room once more. "Don't you understand, Rainbow Dash? The Solanum Root made the ponies sick for a little over a day. Then Applejack found that dead pony. Then the Weird Ponies came. I theorize that the dead pony was killed by some Weird Ponies. Didn't Applejack say that the girls saw more than one? Oh! That's right!" She called out, "Scootaloo! Isn't that what you said? That you saw more than one pony at the old house?"

"Don't come down here, Scoots!" Dash shouted in reply. "Twilight's gone crazy!"

Scootaloo made no reply.

"Scootaloo?"  
>"Kiddo?"<p>

Still no word from the orange pegasus.

"_WEIRD PONIES!"_ the two friends gasped in unison. Completely forgetting that one had just tried infecting the other, Twilight and Dash made their way up the stairs…

* * *

><p>Where they were met by Applejack, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo.<p>

Applejack and Rarity both had strange devices set across their backs. They were yoke-like in appearance, except that attached to one side was a metal tube attached to a box. A string or wire of some kind stretched from the box to the mouth of the pony wearing it. Twilight had never seen such a thing before, but she noted that both Applejack's and Rarity's tubes were pointed in her direction.

Applejack spoke up first. The wire didn't seem to affect her voice much. "'Somethin' about somepony goin' crazy?"

"Applejack! She's our friend!" Rarity replied.

Twilight nervously backed away. "I…I have no idea what you're talking about… I'm not a Weird Pony…"

Scootaloo spoke up at this point. "She was _acting_ weird, but not much weirder than she was when she tried to make us play with her Smarty-Pants doll."

"Then why'd Dash say that Twi was 'crazy?'" Applejack kept her tube trained on Twilight.

Rainbow Dash looked over from Applejack, to Scootaloo, to Twilight, then back to Applejack, then Twilight again. She nodded slightly to Twilight. _Don't make me regret this…_ "Did…did I say 'Twilight'? I mean Spike. Spike's gone crazy! He's just like the Weird Ponies."

Twilight chuckled nervously. "That's right! I was trying to figure out…why… But he won't be troubling us anymore…" She coughed, and glanced at Rainbow Dash. _Thanks…_

Applejack turned back toward the entrance to the library, while still trying to keep an eye on Twilight. "Well… Alright, then. If'n y'all don't object, we still have ta' find Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, then we can blow this place! Applebloom! You, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo get back on th' cart!"

Applebloom saluted and led the other two fillies to the awaiting cart. As the fillies walked away, Applebloom could be heard saying, "…said it was called a minigun! You jest turn this here crank and KAFLOOEY!..."

After watching the young ones leave the library, Dash glanced at Applejack and Rarity. "What _are_ those things?"

"Guns."  
>"Dreadful."<p>

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. "What do they do?"

"Shoot things."  
>"Tangle my mane."<p>

Applejack glared at Rarity and continued. "Great Grandpappy Limbertwig had a stockpile a' these things. Said they were from b'fore he settl'd down at Sweet Apple Acres. Found 'em in a barn, he said."

Twilight stepped forward and examined the device being worn by Applejack. "How do they work?"

The earth pony opened her mouth, revealing that the wire that went from the gun to her mouth terminated in a small, metal tag. Then she closed it again, explaining, "All ya gotta do is pull on that there tag with yer mouth, and _blammo_, a bullet comes out and hits wherever yer aiming at."

"It's disgusting," Rarity grumbled.

AJ smiled, obviously enjoying Rarity's displeasure. "Don' mind her. She's just mad 'cause I saved her bacon _twice_ already 'cause she can't hit the broad side of a barn." She grinned. "I'm a crack shot."

Rarity glared at Applejack. "It's also heavy. And it's dirty, and old, and-"

Suddenly, the mares heard screaming from outside. "Quick!" they heard Applebloom shout, "Turn the crank-thingy!" Then the din of bullets tearing up the environment could be heard. Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash all rushed outside to find the Cutie Mark Crusaders using the minigun to destroy…Applejack counted five Weird Ponies all together.

"Stop it!" she shouted as she leapt upon the cart and shoved Sweetie Belle, who was manning the crank, to the side. "We don't have a lot of bullets left so as it is!"

"I told her ta' stop, sis," Applebloom whimpered.

"I didn't hear you say anything," Sweetie Belle replied. "So I kept going."

Scootaloo was gleefully bouncing around in the cart. "My turn next! My turn next!" Suddenly her eyes widened. "Hey, guys!" she called out to her companions. "Check for Cutie Marks!"

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle gasped and, full of hope, glanced back at their flanks.

Still blank.

This revelation was met with a pitiful, "Aww…" from the Crusaders.

"Hey! There's Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash, who had been hovering above the others, pointed her hoof in the direction of Sugarcube corner. The others followed her gaze and gasped.

There, standing on the roof of the town's bakery, was a pink earth pony with a large, "poofy" mane. At the moment, she appeared to be flinging bottles of cider at the zombified ponies. From her vantage point in the air, Dash could see that upon impacting the ground, the bottles exploded in a ball of flame. "So cool!" she remarked. "C'mon, guys! Let's go!"


	6. Chapter 5: Molotov Cocktails Are Bad

**Chapter 5: Day 3 (Still)**  
><strong>Molotov Cocktails Are Actually Terrible Anti-Zombie Weapons<strong>

Pinkie Pie struck a match and held it to another "Cider Bomb". The wick caught flame in a matter of seconds. She knew from experience that you could only have the bomb in this state for a few seconds before the wick would completely burn up and she'd have to start all over again. Either that or, as in the case of the bottom floor of Sugarcube Corner, the wick could fall off and cause a fire.

Pinkie suddenly smacked herself in the forehead. "Duh! I coulda' used flour to snuff out the fire. We have plenty of that!" She looked back into the window she came out of to get to the roof. Noticing the rampaging fire within, she deflated. "Oh. Right…" When she turned to return to her work of throwing cider bombs at the incoming horde of zombies, she was almost run into by an incoming Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow! Boy, am I glad to see you!" She leapt forward and gave her friend a tight embrace. "And you're not a zombie!"

The pegasus awkwardly peeled Pinkie off of her and replied, "Nope! I'm still kickin'!" She punched the air with her forehooves to demonstrate. "Say, whatcha doin?" she asked, glancing around at the piled glass bottles full of cider.

"Oh! I'm keeping the zombies away!" Pinkie looked out over the edge of the roof and gasped in horror. "OMIGOSH! Here come some more! _And they have weaponry!_" She picked up a bomb to hurl at the incoming "horde", but Rainbow Dash held her back.

"Hold on! That's Applejack! And Twilight and Rarity and the Crusaders!"

"WHAT? The zombies got them? Oh no! Rainbow Dash! What're we going to do? We're the only ones left!" She dropped the bomb, letting it fall onto the roof and burst into flame. With tears in her eyes, she hugged Dash again. "Hold me…"

"PINKIE!" Dash exclaimed.

"What?"

Applejack's voice suddenly rang out, "GET OFFA THERE! YER GONNA GET YERSELVES KILLED!"

Upon hearing her friend's voice, Pinkie leapt off of Rainbow Dash and trotted over to the edge of the roof and waved a hoof. "Hiya, Applejack!"

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight shouted. "We're all okay! You have to get off the roof!"

"Why?"

Dash noticed that the flames, which Pinkie had somehow not noticed were inching closer to the pile of bottles filled with cider. "Because fire, that's why!" She immediately sprang into action, taking Pinkie in her front legs and pulling her off the roof. She and the pink earth pony glided to their friends, where Dash plopped her down next to Twilight.

"Hi, Twilight!" Pinkie grinned.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Hi, Pinkie…"

"Yeah… Look, I hate to break this up, but…" Applejack trained her weapon on a small group of weird ponies that were approaching and pulled her trigger, causing one of them to drop like a stone. The other weird ponies continued advancing.

A clamoring could be heard on the cart as the Cutie Mark Crusaders spun the Gatling gun in the direction of the advancing horde, but Applejack quickly leapt onto the cart. "Aww, no you don't!" With one hoof, she shoved Scootaloo from behind the Gatling gun, and with another hoof, she shoved Sweetie Belle from the crank. The two fillies seemed offended, but where otherwise unhurt.

"Aww, Applejack…we were only trying to-" Sweetie Belle's protest was cut off by a sharp 'bang' coming from nearby. Everypony on the cart looked over to the source of the sound and found Rarity, reared up on her hind legs and turning toward the rest of the team, her weapon aimed directly at Twilight and Pinkie. The white mare's eyes were shut tightly as she prepared to pull her trigger once more.

"Rarity! No!" Rainbow Dash suddenly sprung into action and tackled the purple-maned unicorn. She had seen what Applejack's 'gun' had done to one of the weird ponies, and she could only assume that if Rarity's shot would've hit Pinkie or Twilight, the same would happen to them.

The two rolled on the ground and into the path on another small group of the weird ponies. Rarity began to protest, but as she raised her head to scold Rainbow Dash for shoving her to the ground, she met eyes with a zombified Berry Punch. Rainbow and Rarity quickly tried to beat a retreat, but their legs had somehow become entangled, so all they could manage to do was kick each other in an attempt to even get to their feet. In her panic, Rarity had forgotten to open her mouth wide enough for the trigger mechanism to fall out, so she ended up firing two more rounds. She didn't hit a single weird pony, and only barely missed Applejack.

Punch opened her mouth and began advancing toward the entangled duo, as did the other weird ponies that were with her. Just as they managed to close the distance, a reddish-purple aura surrounded them and they stopped in place, still snapping at their newly-denied meal.

Twilight's voice rang out above the moaning of the weird ponies, "Get up! I…can't hold them back much longer!" The purple unicorn braced herself with her front hooves as her horn glowed brighter and brighter. "They're…so…strong!" She struggled to maintain her spell against the advancing weird ponies as Rainbow Dash and Rarity finally managed to untangle their hooves. Rainbow Dash shot straight up into the air as Rarity rolled onto her stomach.

"Hurry up, Rarity! I can't do this forever!" Twilight began to shake and swayed slightly as she felt her spell weakening.

"Alright!" Rarity's hooves slipped a little as she tried to get to her feet, and as she scooted herself backward toward the main, non-weird pony, group, she fired off a couple more shots. Jerking her head back caused the bullets to go wide, and one managed to merely graze Berry Punch, who seemed to shrug off the blow and continue advancing.

Applejack knew that the situation was getting out of hoof, and that she had to take control. She shouted at the others, "Alright, everypony in the cart! Now!" Rarity was the first to get to her feet and leap into the cart, with Pinkie bouncing along behind her. Twilight released her spell with a huff, causing the weird ponies held in its grasp to all stumble forward. Rainbow Dash, who was still in the air, alighted on the side of cart nearest Applejack. She could already guess what she had to do.

"Where to, boss?"

"Outta here!", Applejack replied.

Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be concentrating on something at the moment, judging by the intense look in her eyes and her tongue sticking out suddenly gasped. "We're missing somepony!"

The others looked at her, confused at first, but the realization slowly hit each pony in turn. Pinkie, who hadn't seemed to notice, explained, "I know! I was confused by it at first, too. I mean, I counted Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. That's seven ponies! But then I realized that I forgot to count myself so that makes eight! Now there's normally six of us, so I thought that was everypony, plus one, BUT! Then I forgot that the Crusaders were with us too, so then I-"

"_IT'S FLUTTERSHY!_" the rest cried out.

Pinkie rolled her eyes and blew through her lips. "Well, _duh…_ I was just getting to that part."

By this point, the weird ponies had completely surrounded the cart and were beginning to rock it back and forth. Sweetie Belle had manned the Gatling gun and started to aim it downwards, before Applejack pushed her away from it. "Twilight! Think y'all can control this?"

"I'll try," she replied tentatively. "You just point it and turn the crank, right?"

Applebloom cheerfully responded, "Yup! Here, lemme help!" She reached for the crank with her front hooves but Applejack pulled her back by grabbing her tail with her mouth. "Aw, no you don't…"

"Hey," the filly exclaimed, "Why'd ya go and do that for?"

Applejack's response was cut off by the sound of the Gatling gun starting up, then spewing its payload into a horde of weird ponies.

Scootaloo frowned. "We coulda' done that…"

Sweetie Belle added, "Yeah. We'll try to hit everything we're pointing at.."

"No!" Applejack responded. She was about to say something else before the cart rocked again. "Dash!" she shouted, "get us outta here!"

"Gotcha!" The cyan pegasus grabbed the front of the cart and pulled it, but not without a little difficulty, away from the advancing horde while Twilight continued to operate the Gatling gun.

* * *

><p>As the eight ponies neared the Everfree forest, they spied Fluttershy's cottage. "If she's anywhere, it's here, "Applejack stated. "I don't see no weird ponies around. We might be safe for a while."<p>

Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie dismounted the cart, while Rainbow Dash lay in front, heaving. "You guys are freakin' heavy!" the cyan pegasus panted.

Rarity turned up her nose at the comment. "Well, it's not _my _fault, dear! I keep my figure slim and trim."

Applejack sniggered and leaned in toward Twilight. "That would explain her problems with recoil…" Twilight giggled slightly.

Rarity sniffed the air and scrunched her nose. "Pew! What _is_ that dreadful odor?"

The others cast her a confused glance, but took a good whiff of the air anyway. Each pony, including the Cutie Mark Crusaders wretched or otherwise made an expression of disgust.

Twilight spoke up first. "Let's check it out. Applejack, Pinkie, you two come with me. Rarity and Rainbow Dash, you two stay with the fillies."

Rainbow Dash, who was just getting over her exhaustion, stamped her hoof. "Why can't _I_ come with? I'm strong, and fast, and if there's any weird ponies out there, you'll need me!"

Twilight shook her head. "Exactly. We'll need you…here. With the cart and the fillies. Rarity would be next to useless if she comes with us…"

Rarity huffed.

"…we've seen what Pinkie can do when she's stationary…"

Pinkie glanced around. "What?"

"…and if Applejack was there, she'd probably stand her ground no matter how many weird ponies attacked."

"Uh, sugarcube…? Isn't that what you'd want?" Applejack asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Twilight shook her head again. "No. I think our best course of action, if anything terrible were to happen, would be to beat a hasty retreat. Rainbow Dash, you need to rest so you can pull the cart…"

"Why can't AJ pull the cart?" Dash asked.

Twilight sighed. "While it's true that she's the strongest, she also has a 'gun'. She, Rarity, and the Crusaders are our best line of defense. For now… So, we can't distract her."

"Well, then why…" Rarity began to ask.

"Please! Let me finish!" Twilight stamped her hooves and her horn glowed slightly. "Long story short, I've done the hypothesizing, I've played the various scenarios in my head over and over and _this is the best plan_… Unless…somepony _else_ has a better plan?" She glared at her friends, who all quickly clammed up. The Crusaders hid themselves behind the wall of the cart. After a moment, the lavender unicorn sighed. "Okay. Let's go. Judging by the wind, I'd say the smell's coming from…"

"Where the animals are kept…" AJ finished.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked on and the other three ponies made their way around the back of Fluttershy's cottage.


	7. Chapter 6: Saving Private Pansy

_AN: I never thought this story would become so popular. Marston and I thank you for all the support! (He's the one who keeps giving me the ideas that keep it going. This fic is also mostly his brainchild Mmm…brains…) _(0_o)

**Chapter 6: Day 3 (Even Still)  
><strong>**Saving Private Pansy**

The smell of death hung heavily in the air as Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie rounded Fluttershy's cottage and made their way to the large space of land where Fluttershy housed her many, many animal friends. When they finally got a good look at the devastation that lay before them, they all gasped in horror. Applejack involuntarily recoiled and had to stop herself from bolting. The abandoned house had _nothing_ on this…

The area before them was a scene of devastation and horror: Animals of all shapes and sizes, from tiny bunnies and chickens to deer and steers, lay strewn in pools of blood. Not a one seemed to be moving as the trio of ponies approached.

"Great Celestia…" Twilight whispered. "What happened here?"

"Weird ponies…" AJ replied.

Pinkie's mane immediately went limp, and she didn't say a word.

Twilight and Applejack took a couple steps forward, their hooves sinking slightly into the moist ground. When they got a little further along, Twilight noticed that Pinkie wasn't following them. She turned back and saw that the pink pony stood stock still, her eyes cast downward. "Pinkie? What's wrong?"

Pinkie's mouth moved, but her words were nearly inaudible.

"Come again, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie's eyes slowly met AJ's as she whispered, "She's dead, you guys… She has to be…"

Twilight took a step toward her normally chipper friend. "We don't kno-"

"They're all dead! The bunnies, the deers, the chickens, the hedgehogs, the snakes, the puppies, the kitties, the chickens, the ladybugs, the crickets, the eagles, the bats, the chickens, the mongooses, the _actual _gooses, the chickens, the lizards, the chickens, and the chickens!"

Twilight's lip quivered as she surveyed the landscape. Pinkie was right. It didn't seem as if any animal in the area was left alive. She knew that Fluttershy wouldn't let such a thing happen unless… She shut her eyes and tried to choke back her tears. "No," she then stated. "I can't believe it. I _won't_ believe it!"

AJ whispered, "We'll find her…one way or th'other… Give 'er a proper burial and all that…"

Pinkie murmured, "And if she's a zombie…?"

Applejack shook her head solemnly. "Then we gotta put 'er down…"

Twilight nodded in agreement. "It's what she would want. She wouldn't want…" she motioned to the scene of carnage that lay around them, "This…"

The three friends wordlessly nodded to each other and set about to the task of finding their friend.

* * *

><p>Twilight stepped out of Fluttershy's cottage and called out to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, "She's not in here, either."<p>

"What 'bout Angel?" AJ called back. She had just finished checking the chicken coops.

Twilight simply shook her head.

Pinkie poked her head out from a nearby tree. Her mane still drooped and was now entangled with sticks and leaves. "She's not here either, but I can see some hoof prints near the woods."

"Sounds like as good a' place as any ta' look for her…" Applejack made her way to the edge of the forest, followed by Twilight, then Pinkie. "Maybe it's best if I lead," the farmer pony said, motioning to her weapon.

"Good idea," Twilight replied. "I'll back you up. Pinkie, you cover our flanks."

Despite the obvious (to anypony with Pinkie's sense of humor) set-up to a flank-based joke, Pinkie simply nodded and followed along.

* * *

><p>"How far should we go into the forest before we stop looking?" Twilight asked. They had gone far enough into the forest now that they could only barely see the tree line. She waited for Pinkie to respond, <em>Only halfway because then we'd be leaving the forest!<em> But the pink pony's sullenness continued:

"Maybe we should just leave her…"

Applejack turned and glared at her earth pony counterpart. "No way, Sugarcube." She turned back and looked further into the darkening forest. "We've only been at it fer a little while now… We did'n hear no shoutin', so we know that th' carts' okay, so we got some time. We. Will. Find. Her."

"I hope so…" Twilight murmured.

Pinkie hung her head. "I'm sorry you guys… Applejack's right." She suddenly brought her head to an upright position. "We gotta find her! No matter what!" She started to trot on ahead.

Twilight smiled. "That's the spirit!"

Pinkie even got a smile out of Applejack, who had latched onto Pinkie's tail to keep her from straying too far. "Whoa, Nelly. Just cuz we got ya ta believe in us doesn't mean ya gotta go on ahead and get yerself hurt." She spit out the tail and continued, "We gotta stick t'gether."

* * *

><p>Twilight glanced around as the foliage seemed to be closing in around them. The air was still and deathly silent; the Everfree forest wasn't normally like this, as she knew from her frequent trips to Zecora's hut. <em>Zecora…Is she still alive? We should make it a point to try to find her, too. After we find Fluttershy…for better or for worse.<em> She coughed, then chuckled nervously. "So…does anypony know any good songs?"

The two earth ponies stopped in their tracks and both cast a glance at their unicorn friend. "Uh…beg yer pardon?" Applejack's glance suggested that perhaps Twilight had grown a new horn in the time that they had been in the forest. "What good's singin' gonna do?"

Pinkie tapped her chin with her hoof. "Waitaminute… If we sing… Then maybe…"

The others waited anxiously for Pinkie to finish her thought.

"Fluttershy…"

"Yes…?"

"Will hear us…"

"And…?"

"And she'll come out!"

Twilight and Applejack both blinked simultaneously. "That's…not what I intended but…" Twilight replied.

"That's actually kind of a good idea…" Applejack finished.

"I'm sure I could whip something up…" Concentrated, then took a deep breath.

"_My Dear Fluttershy, Where Have You Gone?"  
><em>"_We Really Hope The Zombies Haven't Found You"  
><em>"_For Them To Feed Upon"  
><em>"_We're Searching Really High"  
><em>_"We're Searching Really Low"  
><em>_"We Really Hope To Find You Soon"  
><em>_"So We can Get Our Friends and Gooooooo."_

After the song finished, Twilight and Applejack simply gave their friend a blank stare.

"That was uh…great…" Twilight nervously chuckled.

Applejack knew that she wouldn't be able to lie about it, and she didn't' want to hurt Pinkie's feelings, so she simply clammed up and glanced around nervously.

"Thanks! I was really hoping you guys would like it since I only took a couple minutes to write it and then I had to add a tune, then I had to think of pitch and-"

Applejack suddenly shushed Pinkie.

"What?"

"I hear somethin'…"

The three stood in absolute silence for what seemed like forever before Pinkie, not having heard anything, started up again. "And then I had to think of a proper pitch. I couldn't go too high because I didn't want to scare anypony, but I couldn't go too low either since that makes my throat hurt and-"

"Pinkie!" Twilight shushed.

"What?"

*SCREE!*

Applejack and Twilight whirled toward the source of the noise. AJ trained her sights as she scanned the area. "Could be weird ponies. Keep yer eyes peeled…"

They stood in tense silence as they searched the area around them, checking for any signs of weird ponies. But once again, after a while, Pinkie started up: "Like I was saying, I couldn't go too low because it makes my throat hurt, and I wasn't really in the mood for singing too deeply anyway and-"

Suddenly, a familiar, feminine voice called out, "HA! I _knew_ it was you!" Before anypony could react, a large, brown and white blur dashed out from behind a small copse of bushes and grazed Pinkie as it flew past.

Applejack quickly spun around and took a shot at the attacker and seemed to land a direct hit as the brown attacker landed in a pile of foliage with a thud.

"Alright, you! Come on out!" AJ aimed her weapon at the area where the attacker fell. The foliage mostly obscured it from view, but the pony resolved to herself to "take the shot" if it attacked again.

The bushes rustled and the voice moaned, "Ah…son of a…Stupid lame-o ponies and their…stupid magic… Singing and…ugh!" Before long, a yellow talon reached out from the bushes. Then another. The talons dug into the ground as the rest of the beast revealed itself to be none other than Gilda the Griffon.

*gasp* "GILDA!" Pinkie dashed over to her former nemesis and hugged her tightly, causing Gilda to scream in pain.

"AH! Get offa me, Loser!" The griffon grabbed a large talonful of Pinkie's mane and yanked her off, tossing her toward Twilight and Applejack.

"_Gilda_?" Twilight gasped as she helped Pinkie to her feet. The pink pony appeared to have lost a chunk of her mane, but seemed otherwise unhurt. Either that, or she just didn't care. "What are you doing here?"

Pinkie added, "You totally missed with your glomp. I could teach ya if ya want!"

Gilda glared at Pinkie, but replied to Twilight, "Nonna' your beeswax, Egghead. And don't you _dare_ come near me, Stinkie Pie, or I'll finish what I started with your mane!" She held up the chunk that she had ripped out.

Applejack relaxed a bit, but kept her weapon trained on Gilda. "Now, now…there's no reason for fightin'…."

"Tell that to my wing, Apple Jerk!" Gilda stuck out her wounded wing, wincing as she did so. Quite a few feathers had been knocked off by AJ's shot, and it appeared to be bleeding a bit. She muttered, "Dash is so much cooler than you guys all put together…"

Twilight maintained her composure in the face of Gilda's insult. For some reason, "Egghead" sounded a lot more hurtful coming from her than Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow's with us. If you want to come along."

That seemed to catch the griffon's attention. "Wha? Dash's with _you_? Then why're there only three of ya?"

"Cuz we're lookin' for Fluttershy?" Applejack replied. "Y'all seen her?"

At this, Gilda snickered. "Oh, sure. I saw Flutterwimp. She was all 'Ooh, I'm soo scared cuz I'm a dumb, lame-o, scaredy-cat! Woe is me, my poor, _stupid, _animals are all dead. Boo hoo! Fleh…"

"That doesn't sounds like something Fluttershy would say…" Pinkie interjected.

"Oh, she totally did, _Stinkie _Pie. I was there. I saw the whole thing."

Twilight tried to remain composed as she asked her own question, almost fearing the answer before Gilda could give it: "Where is she?"

Gilda tapped her chin with one talon. She knew that she had the upper hand, and she was _relishing_ it. "Tell you losers what: I can do better than _tell_ you where she's at. I can take you there. But you gotta bring Rainbow Dash here. Capiche?"

"We can't leave the others, Twi…" Applejack replied.

"She's right, Gilda. We're not sure if we can take the cart through the forest. Rarity is with it, and the Crusaders." While saying this, in her head, Twilight was doing all sorts of calculations. She couldn't think of any that they could take the cart, the Crusaders, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, _and_ themselves through the woods to wherever Gilda was leading them, without it becoming a slog.

"Tough crackers, Egghead," Gilda remarked. "Looks like you gotta make a choice." She then added, "Or…you could just send Dash. It's cool. Then Flutterwimp can flutter her lame self to you guys. Whatevs…"

Applejack glared at the griffon. "Fine." She trained her weapon at Gilda's face. "But you're comin' with us. We ain't gonna go out there, then come all th' way back to find you've gone and skedaddled on us."

"You can push the cart. Y'all don't need _wings_ fer that…"


End file.
